


With You, I'm Me

by MobMode



Series: It Feels So Right [2]
Category: Darkwing Duck (Cartoon 2018), DuckTales (Cartoon 2017)
Genre: Adopted Children, Adoption, Bullying, Family Bonding, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, M/M, Texting, Time Skips
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-14
Updated: 2019-08-14
Packaged: 2020-08-23 13:54:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,278
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20243929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MobMode/pseuds/MobMode
Summary: She’s never allowed herself to feel vulnerable until them.





	With You, I'm Me

**Author's Note:**

> Gosalyn..... is a very good girl and I wanted to really focus on her here and get a better feel for her character. I hope I did well portraying her and how much she loves her new dads :)
> 
> Thanks to the Discord for all the lovely petnames used in here uwu (and the ice cream choices lol)
> 
> Hope you enjoy, comments and kudos much appreciated!!!!

They’re the first people since her Grandpa’s death that she’s ever cried in front of. She always tried her hardest to put on a Tough Girl persona, always posturing and acting as such, maybe as a means of defense against any potential parents that might hurt her with unkept promises. But around them it’s not so hard to be herself, with all their smiling and sickening sweetness, and it seems as though they could never run out of love to give to both each other and her. It becomes easier and easier to be herself around them, still Tough and full of Spirit, but… softer.

A few minutes before the first time she cries in front of them, they’re standing in front of a really pretty house with a great big tree in the front yard that has a tire swing hanging from it. She wonders if maybe they’re visiting Drake’s side of the family? She’s spent plenty of time with the triplets and Webby and her friends, but never heard any mention of Drake’s parents or siblings, if he even had any.

Running up to the tire swing and leaping onto it with a whoop, she laughs as Launchpad comes over and pushes her on it.

“So what’s this big surprise you guys have for me? Am I finally gonna meet your parents so they can tell me embarrassing stuff about you?” she asks Drake as she hangs upside down, and she doesn’t miss the way he flinches just at the mention of his parents, and Launchpad even frowns a little. 

Suspecting she’s crossed some line, she lets herself fall out of the swing and into Launchpad’s waiting arms. She wonders if maybe his parents were gone like hers, and makes a note in her head to not bring them up anymore.

“Uh no, Pumpkin, let’s just get inside ok? The surprise is in there.” he says, giving her a tight smile as he plucks her from Launchpad’s arms and onto the ground. He grabs onto Launchpad’s arm as they walk up to the house, taking a deep breath before unlocking the door with shaking hands. Gosalyn raises an eyebrow at this, whatever this surprise is it must be a big deal. He opens the door and Gos steps in, whistling as she takes in the house.

“Keen Gear! This place is neat!” she marvels, checking out the kitchen and the living room with big eyes.

“You like it?” Drake asks, still holding Launchpad’s arm in a death grip but he doesn’t seem to mind.

“Yeah, this is awesome! But uh, where’s the surprise?” she asks, looking over at them and their big smiles.

“Follow us.” Launchpad says, guiding them down a hallway and to a door that had a wooden ‘G’ on it, and it looked an awful lot like the one on the door to her room at Drake’s apartment, which she hasn’t been to in weeks.

Glancing up at them in confusion as they urge her to open the door, she shrugs and does as they ask, face screwing up in even more confusion as she sees her bed and all her furniture from Drake’s apartment. Was this some other families house and this was their way of telling her she was going to be living with them now? She turns to look at them to see they’re still smiling wide and she wonders how their faces don’t hurt.

“Welcome to our new home.” Drake and Launchpad say in unison, and Gosalyn blinks as she processes this before gasping.

“We live here now? And- And this is my new room?” she asks, not wanting to think about the way her voice wavers or the tears she can feel running down her face. It’s been so long since she last cried that she forgot what it felt like, and before she can try and control herself she’s sobbing into her hands.

When Launchpad comes to wrap her in his arms she cries a little harder, leaning into his chest and burying her face in his neck, and Drake comes around to smother her between them, and the safety and comfort she feels in their arms is something she hasn’t felt in such a long time, not until they showed up in her life. They had a  _ home _ now, and she knows what that means no matter how hard Drake had tried to hide his stress from her. 

She’s gonna get adopted.

It was Halloween time, her favorite time of the year since she could talk about horror movies and monsters freely and without judgement. Not that Drake or Launchpad ever judged her, they were always so excited to listen to whatever she had to talk about. They even listened to her when she suggested they follow a monster theme for their costumes, helping her buy whatever she wanted to make them the perfect costumes and sitting through her makeup tests without complaint.

When Halloween night finally comes around, their costumes are all done and she stands in front of them proudly as she presents them.

“Ok! So Launchpad, for you, I have decided to make you a vicious Wereduck! A monster of the night that fills your heart with fright!” she says in a dramatic voice before howling like a wolf and handing him his costume.

“For Drake, inspired by your incredible ability to suck the fun out of everything,” she begins.

“Hey!”

“You are… Dracula!” she hisses and pretends to hide behind a cape before handing his stuff over.

“Now! Go get dressed so I can put on my costume and show you!” she bounces up and down in excitement, pushing them out of her room, ignoring their protests.

They all regroup in the living room, and she flaps her hands as she sees their costumes look perfect and does scary poses while Drake and Launchpad ‘ooh’ and ‘ah’ at her own costume, which is Frankenstein’s Monster.

“Gosalyn, they came out perfect! I’m so proud of you,” Drake cooes, picking her up to peck at her cheek despite her protests.

“Ugh, stop it, Dad! You’re gonna mess up my makeup!” she groans, and only realizes her mistake when Drake goes still. He holds her at arms length, just staring at her for a moment before bursting into tears and pulling her in close for a tight hug. She smiles into the hug, patting his back, and wishes she hadn’t waited so long to call him that, if only so he wouldn’t be crying right now and they could go trick-or-treating already.

After some consoling from an equally teary eyed Launchpad, and some makeup fixing, they finally get into the car to meet up with all her friends. They’re going to Violet’s neighborhood to trick-or-treat since she’s the only one in their friend group to live in an actual neighborhood in Duckburg, and she can’t shake the nervous feeling that always happens when she knows she’s going to be hanging out around her. She just hopes she likes her costumes.

Parking at her house, everyone is there waiting for them and they’ve somehow managed to not have the same costumes as anyone else, which is a relief as she doesn’t want Violet to compare her work to something better. After giving everybody a hug and marveling at each other’s costumes, they set off around the neighborhood, collecting candy and talking animatedly about who has the best loot and which houses to hit next.

As the night goes on, Gosalyn feels a little tired and so she lags behind her friends to join Launchpad and Drake, walking between them and telling them about what she’s gotten so far. She notices all her friends doing the same thing, joining their parents and grabbing onto their hands. Della walking with Dewey and Louie, Donald with Huey and Webby (who holds Lena’s hand), and Violet laughing while her dads swing her between their arms. She’s never held Drake’s hand, or Launchpad’s for that matter, preferring to maintain her distance in case they ever decided she was too much for them. 

But things were different now, they actually had a court date set for her adoption and they were all living in a house together. Granted she wasn’t there all the time and had to go back with Mrs. Cavanaugh during the week, but the weekends she spent with them were always fun and they were so nice to her. Making a decision, she tugs on Drake’s cape, catching his attention.

“Um, would it be okay if I held your hand?” she asks quietly, unable to meet his eyes so she doesn’t see the way his beak quivers before he smiles.

“Of course, Gosalyn.” he says, grabbing her hand before continuing to walk.

“Launchpad’s, too?”

They both chuckle before Launchpad grabs her other hand, and they walk all together, like a family.

When they get home, she holds her arms out for Drake to carry her in, her legs too tired from walking around all night to work up the willpower to move. He picks her up with a smile, taking her into the bathroom first to wipe her face free of makeup before laying her down in bed, tucking her in.

“Did you have fun tonight?” he asks, smoothing down the blanket and adjusting it so she was perfectly comfortable.

She nods sluggishly, the excitement of the day getting to her as she feels so incredibly tired.

“I’m glad… goodnight, Gosalyn,” he whispers, leaning down to peck her on the forehead before getting up.

The small hand that grabs his wrist before he can go makes him pause, turning to look at his little girl.

“I love you.”

She expects the tears that come streaming down his cheeks but she doesn’t expect the rain of kisses that hail down all over her face, giggling and trying to push him away as he smothered her with affection.

After the adoption, things settled into an easy rhythm for Gosalyn. Monday through Friday she went to school, dropped off by Launchpad, then came home to eat her dinner, do her homework, and go to bed while her dads were off stopping crime without her, unless it was a Friday night, when she was allowed on patrol. Saturdays were ‘Family Days’ as Launchpad loved to call them, where they would watch TV together, play video games, and cook dinner with her help, and Darkwing Duck would only go out if the police scanners were picking up a lot of disturbances. 

Sundays were probably her favorite days, however, as they were Ice Skating days. The hockey rink near their new house was her favorite place to be, where she could practice her moves and watch her dads try to get on her level. They fumbled and slipped around more than they skated, but would hold each others hands through it all, which she thinks says a lot about them. While skating around in circles, they’ll wave at her whenever she passes by, Drake keeping Launchpad steady whenever he waves too hard.

It’s endearing to see just how much they love each other, keeping each other standing while they skate on shaky legs, except for when they start making goo goo eyes at each other and trying to kiss while skating, which usually results in them falling.

“That’s what you get for being gross!” she calls as she skates a couple of laps around the rink, pretending to guide an imaginary puck into an imaginary goal, practicing an imaginary winning shot.

She’s so caught up in her practice that she doesn’t notice the chip in the ice in front of her until her skate gets caught in it and she goes flying forward, everything moving too fast for her to protect her face from meeting the ice.

But her beak never meets the cold ground, crashing instead into a soft body instead. Sitting up from her crash, at least Launchpad would be proud of her, she finds her dad laying on the ice looking dazed but relieved.

“How did you even get here so fast?” she asks, picking herself up and dusting her clothes free of any ice.

“My skating skills are beyond your comprehension, Gosalyn. One day you’ll get as good as me,” he sniffs, going to stand up and immediately slipping on the ice and onto his butt.

“Uh huh, sure. Did Launchpad throw you?” she laughs, holding her hand out to help him up.

“No! I’m just so good at ska-”

“I did! By the way, nice crash, Gosaroonie!” Launchpad interrupts as he skates over, picking Drake up and setting him on his feet carefully.

Drake narrows his eyes at his fiance, opening his mouth to argue when Gosalyn pulls the both of them into a hug, her little arms trying their best to reach around the both of them.

“Thanks, Dads… I love you guys.” she mumbles from where her face is hidden in Drake’s stomach, and both ducks melt, going to hug her back but she beats a hasty retreat, skating away before they can catch her.

Only a few minutes after her dads leave to talk to the principal, Launchpad comes stomping back, looking angrier than she’s ever seen him.

“Come on…” he sighs, holding his hand out for her, which she takes hesitantly, letting him lead her out of the school and back to where they’ve parked the car.

“Am I grounded?” she asks when Launchpad opens the car door for her, wringing her hands together and looking up at him with sad eyes. Launchpad kneels in front of her to get more on her level, even though he’s still much taller than her even like this, grabbing her by the shoulders.

“I would never ground you for sticking up for yourself, especially against jerks like that, ok?” he says, before picking her up and sliding into the back seat with her, closing the door.

“Do you want to talk about what happened at all?” he asks as he sets her down, giving her her space if she wanted it.

She wants to shake her head no, but a voice in the back of her head reassures her that this was Launchpad and she could trust him with anything.

“I just… I just wanna know why they would call me that,” she says slowly, “And- and if it’s true.”

Launchpad takes a second to think before responding, “Ignorant people use words like that when they’re afraid of things that are different. Those boys couldn’t handle the thought of a girl that doesn’t act exactly like every other girl, even though there are millions of different ways for people to express themselves, and so they used that word to try and get you to behave the way they feel most comfortable seeing you behave. Still with me?” he checks in, and Gosalyn nods, understanding so far.

“But you can’t let people like that decide who you are for you.  _ You _ are the only person in charge of yourself, and you get to figure out who you are and what you like all for yourself. I know you know what that word means, I’ve heard Lena use it when talking about herself and I’m sure you’ve asked her about it, right?” Gosalyn nods again, her cheeks warming as she recalls that conversation with Lena and how it felt to learn that she wasn’t alone.

“Good, I’m glad you could talk about it with someone. And you know that your Father and I love you right? More than anything and no matter what?” he says earnestly, giving her a trademark Launchpad smile when she finally looks up at him and nods.

“Great! Was that a good first Father-Daughter talk?” Launchpad asks with a laugh, and Gosalyn can’t help but laugh too and climb into her Pops’ lap, hugging him tight around the neck while she cries, but this time they’re happy tears.

“Yeah, I think you did pretty well.” she sniffles into his jacket, letting him hold her tight and kiss the top of her head.

Drake eventually joins them back at the car, taking one look at them still hugging and getting into the driver's seat, not wanting to break up whatever moment he missed. They drive for a little bit in silence, and when they park she looks up to find they’re not at home, but at her favorite ice cream shop and she glances over at her dad to give him a quick smile.

Once inside they all order their favorites: one scoop of coffee and dark chocolate for Drake, one scoop of cookie dough and cookies and cream for Launchpad, and triple chocolate (doused in chocolate syrup and sprinkles) for Gosalyn. They eat quietly for a moment until Drake speaks up.

“How would you feel about going to a different school, Gosalyn?”

“Oh no, what did you do to the principal?”

Pumpkin, Cupcake, Dumpling, Muffin, Sweetie, Sunshine, Angel, Princess, Baby girl, it was like the pet names never  _ stopped  _ in this family. She’s surprised she hasn’t forgotten her name at this point with how much her dads refuse to say it, spouting off any one of the number of cutesy nicknames they had for her.

“Hey Dumpling, come help me put away groceries.”

“Angel, could you grab the remote for me?”

“Did you finish your homework, sweetie?”

It was so endlessly aggravating, and it’s infuriating how much she’s grown to love every last nickname they have for her. She never thought she’d see the day where she would answer to ‘ _ cupcake _ ’ yet here she is, and she honestly couldn’t be any happier. They were probably the most embarrassing dads in existence, but she loves them so much that she wouldn’t trade them for the world. 

Even when they tell their horrible dad jokes, she can’t help but laugh at them, usually because of how bad they were and not at all because they were actually funny. Launchpad specialized in pun based humor while Drake was happy to tell crappy jokes you might find on the back of a cereal box, which he believed to be the peak of comedy.

Her phone buzzes on the nightstand next to her as she works on homework in bed, and she smiles when she sees it’s from their family group chat.

**Pops** : hey gosaroonie, what was it you wanted for a snack?

**Gos** : could you get me some of those chips i like pleaseeeeee

**Dad** : I thought we still had some at home???

**Gos** : someone may have eaten them all while she was working very hard on her homework

**Dad** : Gosalyn McQuack you are going to spoil your dinner!

**Gos** : come on dad im a growing girl! need my nutrients!

**Pops** : (i grabbed em for you Gos hehe)

**Gos** : (thanks pops! love you!)

**Dad** : Traitors… all of you… 

**Dad** : Do I get an I love you at least? uwu

**Gos** : was going to until u sent that text

**Dad** : Bullied by my own flesh and blood…

**Gos** : dad… idk how to tell u this but im adopted…

**Pops** : YOU ARE??? HOW COME YOU DIDN’T TELL ME???

**Pops** : Drake McQuack did you kno this whole time??

Gosalyn laughs at her phone while her dads continue to argue back and forth, shaking her head when it eventually turns into calling each other their own favorite pet names.

**Pops** : u kno i love you my darling honeybun baby

**Gos** : u guys are such dorks. and ur embarrassing

**Dad** : You know you love us, sweetheart!

Gos sighs as she stares at her phone with a fond smile. Yup, she wouldn’t trade them for the world.


End file.
